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Farrell sex scene too long, says Neil Jordan

Neil Jordan says he cut an "operatic" sex scene from his latest movie only because the film was too long. The Irish director has laughed off suggestions in the Hollywood trade press that the scene was dropped at the insistence of its American distributors to secure a lower age certification.

Ondine, the story of a west of Ireland fisherman who catches a mermaid in his net, has secured a PG-13 rating in about 40 American cities.

Jordan, who won an Oscar in 1992 for The Crying Game, said that he cut the sex scene involving Colin Farrell and his real-life girlfriend, Alicja Bachleda, described by critics as "racy" and "operatic", because the movie was too long.

He told the Sunday Times that he had "just trimmed it a bit", taking five to seven minutes off the running time and changed some of the music. He said the changes would mean